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| Booger Red! Booger Red! Booger Red! Photo Credit: WWE.com |
First up, Scott T. Holland of Irresistible vs. Immovable asks what my favorite May pay-per-view moment was, for any company.
Let's go back to Judgment Day 2000. The Rock defended his WWF Championship against Triple H in an Iron Man Match. He lost said match, but that's not what was important here. You know who came back at this event? THE GODDAMN UNDERTAKER, THAT'S WHO! And he redebuted on a motorcycle too! Bikertaker has a mixed reputation among fans, and I wasn't the hugest fan of "Booger Red," but it was a cool moment, if just for the look of pants-shitting horror on Trips' face as Taker made his way back down the aisle and into the mind of the soon-to-become-again Champion.
@LegKickTKO asks only THE DAZZLER.
@Enrico_Palazzo_ wants to hear some more Loggins, bro.
I played some in Vol. 26. But a request's a request...
@GayWrestlingFan has a theory that Triple H isn't a bad character in small doses, but the reason he's so insufferable is because he wants to be known as the best ever, and wants to know my theory on it.
I've actually had this theory for a long time. Triple H was an Undertaker who thought he was a Ric Flair. See, Undertaker is one of the all-time greats not because he ever had a run on top as the only guy, but because he's been a strong member of an ensemble cast. Trips could have been that, but instead, he rammed home the idea that he was THE MAN like a square peg through a round hole until the edges got sheared off anyway. A lot of ego there. A LOT.
But I do feel like if he hadn't been forced down our throats as THE guy, maybe he wouldn't have engendered the hate he did. Well, I can't use the Royal We here and speak for everyone. I know my personal opinion would reflect that statement.
Setting aside Ryback, @jtidwell808 asks whom I think has the best chance to become the next first-time WWE Champion.
If we're being technical and only going with the title whose lineage traces back to Buddy Rogers, then my pick is Daniel Bryan. The guy is undeniably becoming one of the company's most popular babyfaces, and who better to win the title from The Ryback than the man who knows his weakness? If we're talking either of the big two titles, then it'll be Antonio Cesaro, who is going to win the Smackdown briefcase and cash in on whoever is holding the Big Gold Belt.
@CandymanSossic wants to know the top three concerts/festivals I've ever been to.
1. Iron Maiden/Motorhead/Dio in summer 2003 - My cousin and I went to this show at the Susquehanna Bank Center and watched from the lawn. We were able to see all of the pyro for Iron Maiden's set, which ruled. I came out of that concert a far bigger Maiden fan than when I went in. I feel bad now because we spent a lot of the time on Dio's set making fun of him, and we both turned out to like his music later on in our lives. Thus is life.
2. Metallica in January 2009 - Wells Fargo Center, the night before I had to take a plane ride to Houston (also the night before the Eagles most recent NFC Championship Game defeat). It was well worth the decibels and the late night to bed. The best part of the show? The pyro during "One." Second best? They played ZERO songs from St. Anger.
3. Genesis in September 2007 - Unlike any concert I've ever gone to. No opener, no one was on their feet. It was a show to take in the music, and there was a lot of virtuosity going on. They played a whole bunch of pre-popularity songs as well, which I appreciated immensely.
@Jessico09 wants a comparison between current Champions and fast food franchises.
This is actually a really good question!
John Cena - McDonald's Both are the most ubiquitous in their field, almost to the point where they're the poster children for it. There's a divide in society as to whether you love them or hate them. They each have one aspect (big matches/french fries) that are almost universally loved though.
Dolph Ziggler - Saladworks Ziggler is in great shape but has a devious underbelly, much like Saladworks offers fresh options that can turn pretty fattening if you're not careful. Both are loved by hot, affluent chicks.
Bully Ray - Crown Fried Chicken Found mostly in bad neighborhoods, although both are usually the best parts of said bad neighborhoods.
Jay Briscoe - Chick-Fil-A They both offer great products, whether it be chicken sandwiches or wrestling matches, but both are a bit too gay-unfriendly for mainstream consumption.
Eddie Kingston - Wawa Philadelphia-bred entities who are slowly branching out to other areas of the country.
Adam Cole - Panera Bread Sure, they may seem they're in the higher-end of their fields, but much like if you take Cole's pretty boy exterior for face value, you might get stung, if you eat too much Panera, you might get type-II diabetes. Both possibly may scare The Ryback.
Masada - Kentucky Fried Chicken People usually freak out about the gory hardcore wrestling/Double Down Sandwich-type products, but the truth is, they're both pretty solid at the fundamentals in their field.
Johnny Gargano - Burger King They are compared a lot to Cena/McDonald's, but are generally thought of to be better, even if not by much.
AR Fox - Popeye's People knock both for whatever reason, but those in the know have no doubt that they're better than what's advertised, whether it be Popeye's godawful commercials or Fox having to carry a banner for the worst major indie promotion in America.
Cheerleader Melissa - In 'n Out Burger Neither have much penetration east of the Mississippi, but both are reputed to be the best in their field. Copied a lot by folks back east.
Jessicka Havok - Hardee's/Carl's, Jr. Can be daunting to people who look at the menu/outer appearances, but once you get past the gas mask/names like "Thickburger," they're both enjoyable experiences.
Kazuchika Okada - Taco Bell Mainly, Okada's gimmick is making it rain in the strip club, and most people end up at Taco Bell after making it rain at the strip club.
@Kenzaki24 has this yay or nay: Chikara should pick up Briley Pierce and Derrick Bateman. If so, what would be my booking plans?
I can't speak on Pierce because I literally only know him as Dolph Ziggler's little brother. However, Bateman should definitely go to Chikara as the USA Guy. He could be the secret weapon brought in to help eradicate the false military presence of Colony X-Treme Force and even rekindle the Flex Express with Green Ant in an attempt to help reunite Colony: Original Formula. I've been talking myself so much into this happening that I will be bummed if it doesn't.
My Chikaramigo @RoboDuke wants to know if I were a wrestler, what would my gimmick be?
This is interesting, because there are literally a billion options I could go with. There are a few options I'd find palatable, and almost all of them come from porting characters from other media into wrestling analogues. For example, I'd dig doing a character based off Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, Uncle Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dr. Krieger from Archer, or even the Hound from Game of Thrones/A Song of Fire and Ice.
I think if I were to choose though? It'd be a a horribly disfigured supergenius character from an Eastern European country. That's right. I'd pattern a character after Dr. Doom, and I'd be the best wrestling heel ever.
@mikepankowski asks what Pro Wrestling Guerrilla event would be the best for someone just starting out with the company to watch first.
The cop-out answer would be to look for the PWG Sells Out series, which are all compilations of their best matches from throughout their history. I have vol. 1, and although I'm not through it completely yet, what I've seen on it is awesome. It leads off with a Bryan Danielson/Samoa Joe match, and includes stuff like a steel cage match between Kazarian and Adam Pearce, CM Punk heeling his ass off only to get destroyed by Super Dragon, and the one match most people regard as PWG's best ever, PAC vs. El Generico for the latter's PWG World Championship.
If you want a taste of what modern PWG is all about though, do yourself a favor and get either DDT4 '11, which features maybe my favorite PWG match ever, the Young Bucks vs. Akira Tozawa and Kevin Steen, or Death to All But Metal from last year, which was probably their best complete card that I've seen since beginning to follow them.
Ben van Iten from The Footbawl Blog wants me to wager on the number of times that the Blockbuster has been successfully pulled off on TV if the over/under is 8.5.
I assume we're not counting Buff Bagwell since that was his finisher, unless the implication was that he didn't do it well. I'm going to wager the under, because it's been underutilized on actual televised promotions, but I'd probably lose money on it, especially since I recall Ziggler co-opting it for himself occasionally.
Finally, @PeMAlex asks what promotion would be the best fit for the new free agent Derrick Bateman.
Again, I got myself so psyched for him going to Chikara that I may have gotten my hopes up for him to be there irrationally. However, the best place for him to go is home, Absolute Intense Wrestling. And you know what? He is going home, at Absolution VIII.